Rev. Don Campbell

Leviticus 14-15

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2019

THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

Laws concerning leprosy which began in chapter 13 are continued in today’s reading. The rules involved quarantining the victim of leprosy either permanently or temporarily, depending on the situation as assessed by the priests. I wish to focus on the words “But if he is poor and cannot afford so much…” (14:21-22). These words are also found in 5:7, 11; 12:8; 27:8. No one was exempt from sacrifice, but the required sacrifices were not intended to be oppressive. A note of interest before passing on: In 12:8, the prescribed sacrifice to be brought for a woman after the period of cleansing following childbirth was a lamb or if she could not afford a lamb then she was to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons. When the Lamb of God came into the world, his earthly parents could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:23-24).

In contrast to the non-oppressive laws of God, the Pharisees who sat in Moses seat tied heavy burden on the people, burdens which they would not touch (Matt 23:2-4). The Pharisees ignored all the Scriptures that showed God’s fairness, mercy, and grace and piled law upon law. As we saw on February 14, they had added 36 volumes of law to the 613 commandments given by Moses. Paul was well-versed in those 36 volumes (Acts 22:3).

Such a radical change had taken place in Paul after his conversion that he was accused of telling the Jews to forsake the teachings of Moses, not circumcise their children, or walk in the customs of the fathers (Acts 21:17-21). What Paul taught was that one could not be saved by law-keeping and that circumcision of the flesh was of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal 5:6).

Peter preached the same grace which Paul preached. In arguing against the need for Gentiles to be circumcised and keep the law in order to be saved, he said, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will” (Acts 15:7-11).

Paul was not rejecting the law of Moses if used for its intended purpose: “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted” (1 Tim 1:8-11).

Morally and spiritually, the law and the gospel condemn the same things. The problem was that the law condemned but could not save: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:19-22).

CONNECTIONS

1. If the law and the gospel condemn the same thing, as Paul said they do, why is the gospel superior to the law?

2. Some distorted the gospel in Paul’s day by making it another salvation-by-works law. What perversion of the gospel did Jude confront (v.4)?